Morning Read: Marion Barry Is Hiring

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D.C. Councilman Marion Barry -- the councilmember who has recently been in a whirlwind of controversy after slamming Asian business owners and criticizing Filipina nurses -- is looking for a new communications director.

DCist reports that the office has been empty for a quite a while now. The job would require someone to write press releases, a communication plan and update Barry’s website among other responsibilities.

The hours -- which are listed as the "Tour of Duty" -- are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the job pays between $46,350 and $75,000.

Barry seemed to have a sense of the humor about the irony of the job, responding to DCist’s tweets about the job listing.

* Starting Monday, people will be able to openly carry guns in Virginia state parks.

A long-standing rule prohibiting guns in state parks is set to expire Monday, a victory for gun-right advocates whose battle to overturn this regulation spanned four government administrations, according to The Washington Times.

It was Gov. Bob McDonnell who ultimately changed the state code and ordered the Department of Conservation and Recreation to stop enforcing the ban in January 2011, ending a regulation that had been in place since at least 1965.

VIA Washington Times:

“This was just a lingering issue from the previous administration that was on the radar of the folks at the Department of Conservation and Recreation,” McDonnell spokesman Jeff Caldwell said. “The governor made the decree a year ago to allow this. The [regulations] that we’re going through now are just catching up to policy.”

* About 75 people from the Occupy D.C. movement met at Meridian Hill/ Malcolm X Park Tuesday afternoon to celebrate May Day with a protest for workers’ rights.

* Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is expected to sign a bill Wednesday that would soften the penalties for people caught with small amounts of marijuana.

The legislation would decrease the penalty for defendants found with less than 10 grams of marijuana from the current maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine, according to The Washington Times.

In another cost-saving measure, the bill would also require cases involving less than 10 grams of marijuana to be decided by a judge rather than a jury.

The bill passed the General Assembly last month.

* Gov. Martin O’Malley plans to sign three high-profile environmental bills Wednesday that would curb the use of residential septic systems, reduce polluted stormwater runoff and raise more money through a "flush tax" to upgrade sewage treatment plants.

These bills have largely been overshadowed by the budget and gambling bills that legislators failed to fully complete by the end of the session, according to The Post.

The bills are just three of the more than 270 that governor is expected to sign at an afternoon ceremony.